Tournament bonanza for hoops

Tournament time is in full force before the holidays as three boys basketball tournaments and one girls event -- all within a short drive of each other will be on display.
 Tipping off today in boys will be the Wildcatz Invitational in Watsonville, while the 71st Carmel Invitational, along with the Scattini Memorial at Palma get going on Thursday.
 North Salinas is hosting its annual Sportsmanship Invitational in girls hoops, where it was the runner up last year.
 The Vikings will open against Alvarez. Also slated to take part in the event is Salinas, Soledad, King City, Alisal, Seaside and Scotts Valley.
 Seaside ended North Salinas' run of five straight league championships last year in the Gabilan. All eight teams are providing Christmas gifts for homeless children.
 Champions of the Carmel Invitational in 2016, undefeated Monterey fell in the title game last year to Antelope.
 Mohammed Adam and Evans Charles, who have been up since their freshman season, anchor the Toreadores.
 Carmel has had a full week of practice with its entire team after an extended football season left them short-handed for the first month.
 J.T. Byrne has looked in mid-season form since returning with a pair of 18-point efforts while Joe Garello held the team together in the first three games, averaging 18 points a game.
 The Scattini Tournament includes Salinas, Seaside, Alvarez and the host Chieftains, who have won the last three tournaments.
 Palma is off to a 3-0 start this season behind Colin Neff while Alvarez is 5-0 for the first time since 2012, with Isaiah Rodriguez earning tournament MVP honors last week.
 The Wildcatz tournament will include Marina, Greenfield and King City, along with the host team Watsonville, who is off to a surprising 4-2 start.